Two key members of Georgia Tech’s upset of ninth-ranked Florida State join three student-athletes from Pitt among the Atlantic Coast Conference Football Players of the Week announced on Monday.
The Yellow Jackets’ Jamal Golden was recognized as both the ACC Defensive Back of the Week and the Walter Camp Football Foundation’s National Defensive Player of the Week for his play in the 22-16 win over the Seminoles. Lance Austin, who delivered a 78-yard return of a blocked field goal attempt for Georgia Tech’s winning touchdown as time expired, was voted the ACC Specialist of the Week.
Pitt’s trio of ACC weekly honorees following the Panthers’ 23-20 win at Syracuse include Tyler Boyd (Receiver), Matt Galambos (Linebacker) and running back Qadree Ollison (Rookie).
Duke quarterback Thomas Sirk was tabbed as ACC Offensive Back of the Week, while North Carolina’s Landon Turner was named Offensive Lineman of the Week and Louisville’s Trevon Young the Defensive Lineman of the Week.
UNC’s Turner was honored as an ACC Player of the Week for the third time this season, while Pitt’s Boyd, Galambos and Ollison were each recognized for the second time.
ACC Football Players of the Week are selected by a 14-member media panel.
OFFENSIVE BACK – Thomas Sirk, Duke, Jr.-r., QB, 6-4, 220, Glen St. Mary, Fla.
In addition to rushing for the game-winning two-point conversion, Sirk completed 19-of-39 passes for 270 yards and a career-high four touchdowns while rushing for a career-high 109 yards on 18 carries as the Blue Devils outlasted Virginia Tech, 45-43, in four overtimes in Blacksburg on Saturday. Sirk’s winning two-point conversion run ended the first four-overtime game in ACC history, kept Duke unbeaten in ACC play and lifted the Blue Devils to bowl eligibility for a fourth straight year. Two of Sirk’s touchdown passes came in overtime periods after Virginia Tech had scored to take the lead.
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN – Landon Turner, North Carolina, Sr., OG, 6-4, 325, Harrisonburg, Va.
Turner graded out at 95 percent and posted eight knockdown blocks in North Carolina’s 26-13 win over Virginia. The Tar Heels averaged 6.6 yards per play in posting 422 yards of total offense. Turner paved the way for Elijah Hood to rush for 101 yards and a pair of 3-yard touchdown runs. This marked the sixth time in seven games the Tar Heels have played this season in which Turner graded out above 90 percent.
RECEIVER – Tyler Boyd, Pitt, Jr., WR, 6-2, 200, Clairton, Pa.
The versatile Boyd completed a 38-yard pass, rushed six times for 34 yards and had a career-high 12 receptions for 93 yards in the Panthers’ 23-20 win at Syracuse. Boyd accounted for nearly 40 percent of Pitt’s total yardage (165 of 427 yards) in the win, and also had three kickoff returns for a total of 75 yards. Boyd became the first Division I player since UTEP’s Lorne Sam in 2007 to record 20 yards passing, rushing and receiving in consecutive games. Boyd, who has already established himself as Pitt’s all-time leading pass catcher with 216 receptions in just two and a half seasons, leads the ACC this season in receptions (8.8) and receiving yards (81.5) per game.
DEFENSIVE LINEMAN – Trevon Young, Louisville, Jr., DE, 6-4, 237, Des Moines, Iowa
Young had a career-best three sacks in Saturday’s 17-14 win over Boston College, including one that ended an Eagles’ drive on their final possession of the game. Young led a Louisville defense that recorded eight sacks as a unit and limited Boston College to minus-14 net yards rushing and 79 yards of total offense. Young and the Cardinals recorded 14 total tackles for loss, and the lone touchdown scored by the Eagles’ offensive unit came on a six-yard drive.
LINEBACKER – Matt Galambos, Pitt, LB, Jr., 6-2, 240, Collingdale, Pa.
Galambos keyed Pitt’s victory at Syracuse from his middle linebacker position and as an unlikely pass receiver. The junior had three tackles for loss and an interception to go with five total stops. His interception came with Pitt trailing 17-13 late in the third quarter and the Orange threatening at the Panthers’ 42. He also had a key tackle for loss near the goal line as Pitt held Syracuse to a field goal in the second quarter and a key stop on third-and-1 later in the game. Galambos played a role in the Panthers’ game-winning drive that covered 19 plays and ate up the final 9:20 on the clock, catching a 12-yard pass on a fake punt on fourth-and-7 from the Pitt 48 with less than five minutes remaining. Per ESPN.com, Galambos is the only linebacker in the nation since 2006 to record an interception and a reception in the same game.
DEFENSIVE BACK – Jamal Golden, Georgia Tech, Sr.-r, 6-0, 193, Wetumpka, Ala.
Golden led the defense with nine tackles, including seven solo stops and one for a loss of four yards, and intercepted a pass to swing the momentum in favor of the Yellow Jackets in the 22-16 upset of No. 9 Florida State. Golden intercepted Everett Golson’s pass in the end zone with just over eight minutes left in the game – the first Florida State turnover of the season. Golden’s nine tackles were a career-high. He also broke up one pass in addition to making his first interception of the season and the eighth of his career. Golden is tied with Virginia Tech’s Kendall Fuller and Duke’s Breon Borders as the ACC’s active career leader in interceptions. Golden assisted the Jackets’ defense in shutting out the high-scoring Seminoles in the second half while holding Florida State to just 280 yards of total offense.
SPECIALIST – Lance Austin, Georgia Tech, So., DB, 5-10, 187, Barnesville, Ga.
After teammate Patrick Gamble blocked Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo’s 56-yard field goal attempt, sophomore defensive back Lance Austin scooped up the ball and raced 78 yards for the game-winning touchdown as Georgia Tech upset No. 9 Florida State, 22-16, as time expired. Austin’s return was the first blocked field goal to be returned for a touchdown on the final play of a game since USC in 2011 (USC led 17-14 before the kick and defeated Utah, 23-14). The win snapped a five-game Georgia Tech losing streak and ended Florida State’s record-tying streak of 28 straight victories against ACC opponents.
ROOKIE – Qadree Ollison, Pitt, Fr.-r, RB, 6-2, 230, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Ollison was Pitt’s workhorse on the ground at Syracuse, rushing for 103 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries. He proved especially instrumental on the Panthers’ game-winning drive that covered 89 yards in 19 plays and exhausted the final 9:20 of regulation, converting three third downs (two third-and-1 plays and a third-and-6). His final rush on the third-and-6 play went for seven yards and set up a game-winning 25-yard field goal. The redshirt freshman, who began the year as Pitt’s third-string tailback, now has 662 yards on 118 carries and seven touchdowns in his debut season.
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